Sledgehammer Moment

I wish I could tell you that God is always speaking to me in a whisper. I could feel a little better about my spirituality if that were true. I could walk around standing tall, talking about how I walk through my day with me and God chatting like best friends. We'd talk about how crazy last night's episode of Justified was, how much we both love Moe's Southwest Grill, and every so often He'd say some inside joke like "don't forget the mustard" and then we would laugh and laugh and laugh.

However, most of the time a whisper doesn't work for me. Most of the time God has to get my attention with something. Most of the time when God is trying to speak to me in a still, small voice my own inner-voice drowns God out (that's right I do have an inner-voice, I just don't use it a lot). So sometimes God has to use something like fire and wind to get my attention (see the story of Elijah). It's like God has to hit my eardrum with a sledgehammer just to wake me up to His voice.

A few days ago, I was driving into Newnan on my way to work, and I was completely preoccupied thinking about my day and listening to the Bert Show. I remember thinking that what my day had in store and the fact that a DJ was leaving the Bert Show was going to be the biggest deal of my day, but it turned out not to be. As I drove down Bullsboro I took a moment to take my eyes off of the road (which isn't always a safe thing to do), and in that moment, when I put everyone else on the highway's life in danger, I noticed the sky.

Have you ever taken a moment to notice something that we often take for granted, and you truly realize just how absolutely wonderful and gorgeous it is? I can't explain to you in words how beautiful or how magnificent the horizon looked that morning. It looked like a highly skilled artist had strewn His canvas across my windshield, and I got the joy of watching Him paint.

I can't describe the overwhelming emotion that took my heart captive in that moment when I realized that the God of the universe was orchestrating the entire universe, still creating horizons, and painting the skies everyday, and that the same God that painted the sky that morning was wanting to know me personally and intimately. It felt as if God had painted that sky that morning to win my attention and my affection, like the time I ate an entire cup of nothing but ranch dressing to impress a girl (I'll tell you about that story some other time). God was revealing a little bit of His glory, and it blew my mind.

I call these Sledgehammer Moments. Moments when the glory of God hits you in the chest with the force of a sledgehammer, and you wake up to His glory.

But here's the truth, I believe that God uses His creation to reveal Himself to us and to get our attention, but I know for sure that God loves to please Himself with His own creation. God created the entire universe and He looked at it and called it good. He didn't think, "Man, I hope Nathan thinks this is cool!" God said, "Look at how awesome I am that I could make the ocean and diamonds and black holes and trout and the spleen. I am incredible! I AM good!"

When I'm in the Bahamas and I see the clear blue waters of the Atlantic or when I stand on a cliff of the abyss that is the Grand Canyon or when I'm on the side of the road staring at the beautiful colors of the Painted Desert or when I feel the mist of Niagara Falls hit my face, I realize just how big God is. I see a glimpse of the glory of God in that moment, and I ask myself, "How could I not give my entire life to you in full devotion? How could I ever imagine being lukewarm to your blazing fire?"

The same God that painted the sky that morning in Newnan, breathed life into my lungs at my birth, and knows how big the universe is because He was there when it came to life, wants to know me so closely that He left paradise in heaven to be poor so that He could draw near to us. He suffered the worst death so that I could know and be known by Him on the most intimate and personal level.

When it comes down to that, how could I refuse to give Him my full devotion? How could I tell Him that anything He asked me to do was just too weird or too radical?

When I look at the glory of God in creation or when I hear about the loving kindness of God through the Bible the only natural response from me is complete surrender and full devotion. I'm thankful that God takes the time to give me a sledgehammer moment like I had that morning in Newnan, because it reminds me of how truly great He is. Sometimes you need a sledgehammer.